


School Days of Red

by Nimtheriel



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Anna is in school, M/M, au-ish, meanwhile anna and kusanagi do all the actual parenting let's be real, suoh mikoto's guide to parenting, teacher!Totsuka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-22 21:46:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8302301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nimtheriel/pseuds/Nimtheriel
Summary: In which there are parent-teacher conferences and Anna is an unabashed matchmaker.





	

“Mikoto,” a calm voice announced, “my new teacher wants to meet you.”

The Red King opened his eyes and allowed them to lazily drift to the small figure in a blue uniform. He still wasn’t used to seeing her wearing it. “What did you do?” he mumbled. In his experience, teachers only wanted to “get to know” the parents if the kid was screwed up.

Red eyes gave him a reproachful look. “Mikoto shouldn’t assume the worst. Totsuka-sensei wants to meet everyone’s families.”

“Huh.” Probably some earnest-faced woman fresh out of college who still hadn’t figured out how the world worked. A ripple of protectiveness shuddered through him -- he’d never met Anna’s newest teacher after the last one left due to health issues. What if they were some clueless idiot? “When are we meeting?”

Anna peered at the clock above the bar. “Half an hour.”

Mikoto sat up quickly, following her gaze. Quarter to five. He had a feeling Anna was expecting him to not be surprised. “...How many times did you mention this meeting before?”

“Only once,” the girl responded. “Did Mikoto forget?”

“Aah,” he grunted, picking himself up off the couch. “Where’s Izumo?”

“Groceries. He took the car.”

Mikoto could in theory drive a car, but Kusanagi’s revocation of Mikoto’s car key rights after the Great Disaster of Hishigaya rendered it a moot point. The train it was. They’d be late, but Mikoto didn’t much care as long as he got to vet Anna’s new homeroom teacher.

He grabbed his leather jacket from the peg near the stairs and tossed Anna her little red overcoat. Mikoto lit a cigarette as they left the bar. They didn’t bother locking up, as some of the boys would be coming around soon and Kusanagi wouldn’t take long with groceries.

The subway station was busy this late in the day with a number of overworked men and women all trying to push through the crowd ahead of everyone else. Anna clung tight to Mikoto’s jacket all through the process. Mikoto asked if she was scared, but he received only a slight shake of the head in response.

He glowered at the people around them. He knew Anna didn’t care for enclosed spaces, but Kusanagi was usually available to drive her to and from school. And there was no way in hell he would allow Anna to go to school in Shizume Chou -- she might end up like him.

Anna’s school was a modest brick affair in a decent, Clan-neutral neighborhood. Izumo had helped Mikoto find it, but it was Anna who made the final decision. She’d met some of the teacher and a couple students, then declared that she liked it and would be enrolling.

Apparently it was Parent-Teacher Conference Day, or maybe Stand in Hallways Looking Unnecessarily Anxious Day, because they passed several clusters of parents waiting outside classrooms with their children. Most of them stared at Mikoto as he walked by with Anna at his side. He was used to it. Each of the teachers he’d met before had had some kind of reaction to him: some fear, some suspicion. It didn’t help that he was a little too young to have a child in school, possessed a naturally intimidating aura, and was quite obviously in some sort of gang.

Anna stopped by a closed door and a plaque that had been taped over and redecorated. “Here,” she said. “Wait for our turn.” This last was in response to Mikoto reaching for the knob, wanting to get the meeting over with. He withdrew his hand with a mental shrug and turned to lean against the wall.

It wasn’t long before the door was opened and a hassled-looking woman with greying hair hurried a boy out of the room. They were followed by a slender blond man with an easy smile, dressed simply in khakis and a button down. At first Mikoto thought he was the boy’s father, but no, he was too young (he was too pretty to have spawned that brat anyways).

The man’s smile brightened when he saw his new guests waiting outside. “Ah, Kushina-chan! And...Kushina-san?” Before Mikoto could correct him, he was ushering them inside the classroom. “I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting you to show up! You were scheduled for my 5:15 spot.”

“There was traffic,” Anna explained serenely as Mikoto looked around the room. Same layout, same table, same mismatched desks as the last time he’d been here, meeting with Anna’s original homeroom teacher. The decorations were different, though, and there seemed to be an acoustic guitar in one corner.

His gaze returned to the blond man as he bowed. “It’s nice to meet you! I’m Totsuka Tatara, Kushina-chan’s homeroom teacher.”

Mikoto nodded in response. “Suoh Mikoto.”

Totsuka Tatara cocked his head. “Eh? You’re not related to Kushina-chan?”

“Mikoto looks after me,” Anna explained, “and Izumo and Rikio and Misaki and the others also look after me.”

Totsuka nodded as though he understood, gesturing for them to take seats around his desk. “Sounds like a busy house!”

“It’s not a house, it’s a bar,” Anna corrected.

Mikoto was beginning to wish Kusanagi was here. “Our apartments,” he clarified before this smiling stranger could call child services. “They’re above Izumo’s bar.”

“I see, I see.” Nothing seemed to put a dent in that smile. Which was unfortunate, because Mikoto was starting to find it a little distracting.

“You just started teaching, yeah?” he asked to get the topic off of Anna’s bizarre home life.

Totsuka nodded. “Yes, this is my first year after getting my degree. I’m lucky to have such bright students as Kushina-chan in my debut class!”

A tiny blush painted Anna’s pale cheeks. “Totsuka-sensei, please call me Anna. _Kushina_ was the name of my parents.”

“Ah, sorry! You mentioned that before, didn’t you…”

“Is she doing okay in class?” Mikoto redirected. “The last teacher said she wasn’t a good student or something.”

Totsuka looked genuinely surprised at this. “But Ku-- Anna-chan is very intelligent! I recommended she be moved up a grade or two, but my voice doesn’t carry much weight. Anna grasps concepts very quickly, even if they are new to her. She has a very focused and mature mind for her age.”

This exchange caused the teacher to rocket upwards in Mikoto’s etsimation, especially once he noticed Anna’s small smile. It was quite rare for Anna to openly display any sort of emotion and the fact that Totsuka’s praise drew it out of her carried weight. “So she’s not having any trouble?”

A subtle look was passed toward the girl. “Anna-chan, how much have you told Suoh-san about school?”

“Some,” Anna responded truthfully. Mikoto could usually get a brief summary of her day if he asked over dinner--or if he overheard her talking to Yata (“...and if anyone gives you trouble, point them out and Yatagarasu will come beat them up!”).

“Anna-chan is usually very quiet,” Totsuka explained. “Like I said, she’s very mature for her age and some of the other students have trouble connecting to her.”

Mikoto noted that Totsuka said nothing of Anna’s abnormal appearance -- the red eyes and silver hair, the marbles she carried with her at all times -- and then realized that Totsuka hadn’t so much as batted an eye over him either.

“I don’t need friends in school,” Anna said simply. “I have Misaki and Rikio and Shouhei and the rest.”

Mikoto frowned. “You still should hang out with kids your own age. Otherwise you’ll end up like me.”

“What is it that you do, Su--”

“Mikoto.”

“--Mikoto-san?”

Mikoto gave the question a moment of thought. “I’m a King,” he offered. “Dunno if that counts as employment or not.”

“Ah, is that like a crime boss?” Weirdly, the concept didn’t seem to bother Totsuka. He sounded as if he was asking a simple survey question.

“Yeah, a King is kind of like a crime boss.”

“I’ll tell Reishi you said that,” Anna warned. “Mikoto is a hero.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Yata.” Mikoto glanced over the girl’s innocent expression, then Totsuka’s pleasantly amused one. The teacher's eyes crinkled at the corners when he was trying not to laugh. Mikoto had to wonder if he was taking the conversation seriously at all, and kind of hoped he was. He seemed like he might understand Anna. There was also the matter of his bright, easy smile and the disarmingly animated way he used his hands as he talked.

Totsuka informed them a little about the curriculum, highlighting what the class was going to cover. Anna had learned a lot of it during Kusanagi’s homeschooling attempts, but this course sounded more in-depth. By the end of the conference, Anna seemed happy, Totsuka was still treating them both like normal people, and Mikoto had decided that Totsuka’s hair was naturally blond.

The teacher held out his hand. “I’m afraid that’s all the time we have for today. I look forward to seeing Anna-chan in class on Monday!”

Mikoto shook the offered hand, very aware of the contact as he did so. Totsuka smiled at him from across the desk. “And I hope to meet you again too, Mikoto-san.”

They were still clasping hands, so Mikoto quickly drew away. “...Glad Anna has a good teacher,” was all he said. Then he left the room.

Totsuka watched him go with a faintly bemused expression. “I didn’t say something wrong, did I?”

“No,” Anna said calmly. “Mikoto likes you a lot.”

A slight color rose to his cheeks. “Is that so?”

The girl nodded. “Mikoto doesn’t know how to act around someone he likes. He doesn’t have much experience with it.” That said, she hopped down from her chair and made for the door. Halfway there, she paused, fidgeting with a marble. She turned back to Totsuka. “He likes the tonkotsu ramen from Ichiran,” she announced, as if this should mean something to Totsuka. Then she was gone.

Out in the hallway, Mikoto was on the phone.

_“Hello, Kusangi here.”_

“Izumo, I need help.”

There was a pause.

_“Have you ever spoken those words before in your life?”_

“Shaddup, just listen--”

_“Wait, let me savor the moment! You grew up too fast, Mikoto. It seems like only yesterday--”_

“Izumo, if you don’t shut up I’ll scorch a handprint in your bar.”

_“No you won’t; you don’t want Anna to witness what I’d do to ya. What’s up?”_

Mikoto gripped the cellphone tighter than he needed to. “I’m at Anna’s school…”

_“Am I going to see this on the news later?”_

“Her teacher is really hot.”

_“...I’m going to assume from the lack of screaming that you mean he’s attractive, not on fire.”_

“Yeah. He’s really good with Anna, too.”

_“So why’re you calling me? Take him out to dinner or something.”_

“Aren’t you supposed to warn me against dating Anna’s teachers?”

_“Despite my many actions to the contrary, I ain’t yer mom. Hell, invite him back here for drinks. I could use the business.”_

A click and silence announced that Kusanagi had just hung up. Mikoto stared at his phone until a text appeared as an afterthought, likening Mikoto to a twelve year old girl at a slumber party. He snorted in disbelief and looked up to see Anna watching him. “...What.”

“I’m glad you like Totsuka-sensei. You should ask him out,” Anna informed him, matter-of-fact.

“ _What._ ” Kusanagi was one thing, but to Mikoto’s mind, Anna was still far too young to be weighing in on his romantic life.

He stared at Anna. She stared back. Neither of them blinked, but Mikoto looked away first. With a heavy sigh, he put his phone away and turned back the way he came.

Totsuka was packing up paperwork and a laptop when Mikoto walked back into the room.

“Ah, Mikoto-san! Was there something else I could help you with?”

At the sight of that expectant smile, Mikoto’s nerve wavered. Totsuka was so tidy with his white, tucked-in shirt and soft blond hair. What use would he have for a glorified gang boss living above his friend’s bar? He was about to make some excuse and return to Anna’s disappointed expression when Totsuka spoke again.

“Are you doing anything after this?”

Mikoto knew he had heard correctly, but it didn’t make him any less incredulous. Maybe he was just that obvious. Well, he wasn’t going to let such an easy shot pass him by. “Figured I’d drop Anna at home and go out for dinner. Wanna join me?”

“Am I being asked back to the King’s den of iniquity?” Totsuka’s eyes glinted with a mirth that made Mikoto think neither of them had any idea what they were getting into.

“Nah, just dinner.” Any future parent-teacher conferences were going to be an awkward hell, he was sure, but he’d never yet allowed probable future consequences to interfere with a bad idea and wasn’t about to start now.

Totsuka’s smile was a rising sun. “Well in that case, there’s a ramen place in Shizume I’ve been meaning to try…”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys have a thing I wrote in like zero time w o o p s.  
> This accidental child was brought to you by an Imagine Your OTP prompt but I can't remember which one. In the process of writing it I discovered that I really really like writing events surrounding K Project schooling, so I ambiguously left the title as "School Days of Red" in case I ever needed to add more hopeless plotless drivel X_X
> 
> Thanks for reading, and the only way to exit this page and move on with your life is by clicking on that lil comment box and writing your thoughts. Otherwise you'll be trapped forever :3


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